Citrix's USB Redirection to Cloud Could Help Spur Virtual Desktop Adoption
One of the big hurdles that cloud hosted virtual desktop users encounter is the ability to use their specialized USB devices. Using USB devices is important because in some industries, many of the tools used by engineers and technicians are specialized and USB compatible.
With USB Redirection to Cloud, end users can simply hook up whatever USB device that they use on their laptop or desktop and begin using the same USB device within their cloud hosted virtual desktop session. This can prove to be a game changer for the industry, as virtual desktop sessions could be accessed from a tablet such as the Surface and the USB Redirection to Cloud would give the user the ability to work mobily with all of the tools they are accustomed to using in their office.
Some users have been turned off on using the cloud to host your virtual desktop session given the fact that limitations were traditionally associated with the platform such as lack of GPU support and lack of USB redirection capabilities. Citrix is looking to change this perception by applying both NVidia GRID compatibility along with its USB Redirection to Cloud technology in order to build a scalable solution for organizations wanting to centralize and virtualize their workloads.
Citrix pitched its new USB Redirection to Cloud at the recent VMworld conference in Las Vegas last week. Citrix didn’t tell us exactly when the new feature would be released, but many analysts believe that the release will happen during 2016 sometime. It is unclear if the USB Redirection to Cloud feature will be added as a feature pack or within an entirely new version of the popular XenDesktop platform. By adding USB Redirections to Cloud, businesses of all backgrounds can begin implementing virtual desktops into their mobilization strategy.
